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·      Journal Entry 1: The Journal entry I feel like I had a very strong response was on the one that asked how do we know whether somebody an adult and how do we know. I answered by saying that a person is never finished fully growing, that someone being an adult should be based off their maturity level and how well they handle responsibilities, not on age.

·      Journal Entry 2: This prompt asked us if we had a fresh start on one part of our life what would it be. Surprisingly I answered none. I believe that everything happens for a reason, we might not see the purpose for it because we’re only human. There are some things in our life that we have done that we are not proud of, but whatever I did on yesterday makes me who I am today.

·      Journal Entry 3: This prompt asked have we ever faced a situation where we wanted something from someone but instead of coming out and asking we pursued it by indirectly asking. I do all of this way too much. I am not the type of person who likes to ask for things unless I have to. The example I used is how I ask my mother for money. I don’t like asking her for things at all so instead of me just asking her I will beat around the bush for hours until I can finally get out what I want to ask.

·      Journal Entry 4: The last journal entry I will share is the one where I feel I had the strongest response. It was the one when we were reading Kindred, and Ms. Finlay asked the question how did it make us feel to see the word nigger used in the book. I told about how the word itself makes me sick. It reminded me of how far America has come and how much farther we still need to come. I explained how for over 400 years African-Americans have been discriminated against and it is still going on. How the word nigger has been changed to nigga and it has a whole new meaning, it no longer is an offensive term but a term that means brother; friend. 

One book report that is the one I did for Jason & Kyra. This book is about 2 African-American teenagers who are in love. This book tells about hard it was for them to keep a relationship. To me it showed how some teenagers actually have to live.

Title: Jason & Kyra

Author: Dana Davidson

 

 

Summary:

 

This book is a love story about two African- American teenagers who have a relationship. The story takes place in the Detroit area.  Their names are Jason and Kyra. Jason is one of the most popular boys in school and plays on the basketball team. Kyra is a girl who has less popularity status then most teenagers, she is very smart and focuses on school at all times. The two never hung out or anything of that nature because of they were in two different social classes; but all that will change. Jason and Kyra are paired together for a project. As they worked on the project they both started to see a side of each other that wasn’t there before. As time went on they fell in love and started to date. Jason’s ex-girlfriend Lisa is very upset by this. All throughout the book she finds ways to break them up. But despite all the rumors and hatred they received in the end of the book they stayed together.

There is person vs. person conflict. It’s Jason & Kyra against almost everybody. People are either jealous of their relationship or just want them to break up. Most of this is coming from Lisa; Jason’s ex. She spreads rumors and even attempts to personally make Kyra break up with him.

My favorite character is Jason. I say this because even when everyone was telling him that she wasn’t good for him he didn’t listen. Jason is the type of boy who could have anyone and anything, but he went with his heart. His ex-girlfriend was trying and trying to get him to go back with her, but Jason wanted no parts. He had Kyra and that’s what he stuck to; despite what people said or thought.

I believe that there is a very good lesson that can be learned from this story. It showed that no matter what to always follow your heart. Readers should take away the message I believe the author was trying to deliver. Love never fails. Those if your heart and mind are telling you to do something then do it.

 

I could relate to Kyra in this story. There was a boy that I really liked. He was very popular and every girl liked him or wanted him. I figured that there was nothing special about me that he would like. But as we got to know each other we started developing feelings for each other. There have been many times where I have also felt like Kyra. At times I’ve felt like some things that were given to me or happened to me were too amazing to be true.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Some strengths of this book is that it is very interesting. From the moment I picked up the book I didn’t want to put it down. A weakness of this book is that it is a “typical” teenage love story. It’s the love story that you would expect to read about. If I could change anything in this book it would be to incorporate another character that was strongly against their relationship besides Lisa.

 

I would recommend this book to other people. Even though it is a love story the message that the story delivers can be used in all aspects of your life. 

Reflection: This portfolio shows how I changed as a 9^th grade student and also how much fun and passion I have when I do these projects. I have many strengths and weaknesses when its come to English. Some of my strengths are that I can be very creative and write a lot of great content into my work. Some weaknesses are that I get frustrated and give up to easily, so I don’t always put out my best work. I still would like to work on becoming a better writer, a skill that I have not fully grasped yet. It was hard for me to go back and fix things where I really didn’t see where I made errors. It was weird and humorous to go back and see how I used to write to how I write currently. The piece I am mostly proud of is the Macbeth Creative Project where I made the poem. I am very good at rhyming so me doing that project was very fun. Overall I am pleased by my portfolio.

 

Creative project: Out of all my projects the one that I am most proud of is my Macbeth creative project. In this project I incorporated all of my quotes and gave a cute rhyme scheme to go along with them.

Macbeth Poem

“For brave Macbeth well he deserves that name”

This is the tale of Macbeth

A thane, brave soldier who never took a rest

King Duncan was his right hand man

But soon, very soon that didn’t help the plan

 

You see he was told of a new life

One that would sure please his wife

He was told he would move up the chain

Eventually to king, but for now just a thane

Aside he replied

“ If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me.”

You see Macbeth when told wasn’t in a rush

But for Lady Macbeth with her, immediately she blushed.

 

So she set it for the night

King Duncan wouldn’t make it to see morning light

Macbeth wasn’t sure how to feel

For that was his friend he had to kill!

“First as I am his kinsman and his subject, strong both against the deed then as his host who should against his murderers shut the door.”

Guilt is overflowing within this thane

For Lady Macbeth I couldn’t say the same

You see he was ashamed of this act

But she felt as though he was breaking their internal pact

“My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white”

 

Soon Macbeth would dramatically switch up

His thirst for power started to empty out his cup

King being taken away from him, was creeping up slow

So he decided to eliminate Banquo

“Whose being I do fear; and under him, my genius is rebuked, as it is said, Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters, when first they put the name of king upon me”

Lady Macbeth didn’t understand this

She was upset by it, maybe even pissed

“Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody, and invisible hand.”

By now Macbeth is cold blooded, cruel

Feeling apathetic, breaking all the rules

The sisters who first promised him of being king

Have now told him to beware of Macduff

Now he is going to kill his family this is no bluff

“The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to Th’ edge o’ th’ sword, His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.”

All of the lands have now heard of his crimes

Malcolm and Macduff are talking about these horrible times

Malcolm the real heir to king

Hears from Macduff this thing

“ Not in the legions, of horrid hell can come a devil more damned, in evil to top Macbeth.”

Everyone is tired of this new era

They are going to defeat Macbeth and his reign of terror

 

Nobody is loyal to him this was clear

Orders were only being followed out of fear

“His secret murders sticking on his hands. Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith breach. Those he commands, move only in command, nothing in love. Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe? Upon a dwarfish thief.”

 

 

Macbeth’s life is about to end

Now you see that depends!

Kill? Sisters told him no man born by woman would

Ha , but this doesn’t apply to Macduff he could

“Then yield thee coward, And live to be the show and gaze o’ th’ time. We’ll have thee, as our rarer monster are, painted upon a pole, and under wit.”

Now the end is here for this greedy man

Karma has caught up with him, to end his plan

Brave Macduff ended his life

He is now in the underworld accompanied by his wife

 

This was the tale of Macbeth

A once honorable man but died much less

There is a lesson here to be learned

Power can’t be stolen, it must be earned

For Quarter 3 Benchmark we had to pick two characters from The Odyssey and compare them. For this I chose to compare Helen and Penelope. I compared how both of these women were beautiful but one of them used her beauty to get whatever she wanted (Helen). This was one of my most favorite projects. I am very interested in Greek Mythology so while doing this project I felt like a kid in a candy store. I completed it as early as I could. I got a 92 on this assignment and I feel as though I greatly deserved it.

 

Thesis Statement: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them.

 

Helen of Troy and Penelope are two women that are featured in the Odyssey. Helen of Troy was considered a very beautiful woman. She was a demigoddess. There were many princes and suitors that wanted to marry her. Odysseus even wanted to marry her. In the end she chose Menelaus to marry. Eventually they had two children and Menelaus became the King of Sparta. Paris who is the Prince of Troy was sent by Aphrodite (goddess of love) to go wed Helen. While Menelaus was away at Crete, Paris took his chance. Paris took Helen back to Troy with him (it is unclear whether she went willingly or not). When Menelaus returned home he was furious to find this out. So he gathered his army and went to Troy; this is how the Trojan War began. She is known as “the face that launched 1,000 ships”. Penelope on the other hand is the complete opposite. She like Helen is beautiful, but she doesn’t use that to get her way. Penelope is a very intelligent woman. She is a mortal. She like Helen had to marry a suitor and she chose Odysseus. Helen is actually Penelope’s cousin, they’re relationship is very strained the two don’t get along. But Penelope is very faithful to her husband. For over 20 years he is gone from her life and not once does she cheat or have the desire to remarry.

 

 

          Penelope is a very intelligent and faithful woman. “And she begun to weave, and the weaving fine-spun, the yarns endless and she would lead us on” (Speaker: Antonius. Book 2, lines 103-204). Penelope did not want to marry any of the suitors. But she knew that just telling them no would not work. So what she had to do was come up with an elaborate plan on how to make it so she has a reason for not marrying one of them. So she came up with a weaving trick. Promising them that once she finished it she would choose one to wed. In actuality her plan all along was to unweave so she wouldn’t have to marry anyone. This is a very wise and clever trick that she pulls. In this sense she is like Helen. Even though Helen used her beauty to get what she wanted she still was very intelligent. If anything she tricked men more then anything. Both of these women are alike in the sense that they both have high intelligence.

 

 

Helen explains herself how she treats men. “I grieved too late for the madness Aphrodite sent me…neither brains nor beauty” (Speaker: Helen. Book 4, lines 301-304). Helen is telling them about what happened. Aphrodite sent Paris to go fall in love and marry Helen, and because of that the Trojan War started. This quote references to both Helen and Penelope in the sense of their differences. Because Helen was beautiful and lonely the moment Paris came along she went right to him. For 20 years about 140 have done nothing but try to marry Penelope. Because she is a faithful wife she did not once cheat on Odysseus or leave him for another man. She stood by him diligently, something that Helen doesn’t do when it comes to men.

 

         Even after a long period of time
Penelope is still not ready to move on. “Odysseus—if he could return to tend my life the renown I had would only grow in glory. Now my life is torment” (Speaker: Penelope. Book 19, lines 141-143).  This is Penelope talking towards the end of the Odyssey. She is explaining how she feels about Odysseus. For 20 years he has been away from her, for 20 years she has been without a husband. She is depressed and it feels like torment to her because she is without him. Her and Helen are dislike in this sense. Helen when her husband was gone for a little bit of time easily remarried. And when her new husband died she remarried immediately after that. Helen is the type of woman who feels like in order for her to be happy she has to be with a man, and the fact that she’s beautiful only adds to it. Romantically when it comes to men, Penelope is much stronger than Helen.

Conclusion: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them. Helen was a very very beautiful woman and she used that to her advantage. While Penelope on the other hand used her intelligence and dedication to get through life. They were both very smart and clever, but approached love differently.  I believe that the Greeks made both of these women for a reason. To show the different personalities that people can actually have.  Because the world is filled with Helen’s and Penelope’s

​·      Journal Entry 1: The Journal entry I feel like I had a very strong response was on the one that asked how do we know whether somebody an adult and how do we know. I answered by saying that a person is never finished fully growing, that someone being an adult should be based off their maturity level and how well they handle responsibilities, not on age.

·      Journal Entry 2: This prompt asked us if we had a fresh start on one part of our life what would it be. Surprisingly I answered none. I believe that everything happens for a reason, we might not see the purpose for it because we’re only human. There are some things in our life that we have done that we are not proud of, but whatever I did on yesterday makes me who I am today.

·      Journal Entry 3: This prompt asked have we ever faced a situation where we wanted something from someone but instead of coming out and asking we pursued it by indirectly asking. I do all of this way too much. I am not the type of person who likes to ask for things unless I have to. The example I used is how I ask my mother for money. I don’t like asking her for things at all so instead of me just asking her I will beat around the bush for hours until I can finally get out what I want to ask.

·      Journal Entry 4: The last journal entry I will share is the one where I feel I had the strongest response. It was the one when we were reading Kindred, and Ms. Finlay asked the question how did it make us feel to see the word nigger used in the book. I told about how the word itself makes me sick. It reminded me of how far America has come and how much farther we still need to come. I explained how for over 400 years African-Americans have been discriminated against and it is still going on. How the word nigger has been changed to nigga and it has a whole new meaning, it no longer is an offensive term but a term that means brother; friend. 

One book report that is the one I did for Jason & Kyra. This book is about 2 African-American teenagers who are in love. This book tells about hard it was for them to keep a relationship. To me it showed how some teenagers actually have to live.

Title: Jason & Kyra

Author: Dana Davidson

 

 

Summary:

 

This book is a love story about two African- American teenagers who have a relationship. The story takes place in the Detroit area.  Their names are Jason and Kyra. Jason is one of the most popular boys in school and plays on the basketball team. Kyra is a girl who has less popularity status then most teenagers, she is very smart and focuses on school at all times. The two never hung out or anything of that nature because of they were in two different social classes; but all that will change. Jason and Kyra are paired together for a project. As they worked on the project they both started to see a side of each other that wasn’t there before. As time went on they fell in love and started to date. Jason’s ex-girlfriend Lisa is very upset by this. All throughout the book she finds ways to break them up. But despite all the rumors and hatred they received in the end of the book they stayed together.

There is person vs. person conflict. It’s Jason & Kyra against almost everybody. People are either jealous of their relationship or just want them to break up. Most of this is coming from Lisa; Jason’s ex. She spreads rumors and even attempts to personally make Kyra break up with him.

My favorite character is Jason. I say this because even when everyone was telling him that she wasn’t good for him he didn’t listen. Jason is the type of boy who could have anyone and anything, but he went with his heart. His ex-girlfriend was trying and trying to get him to go back with her, but Jason wanted no parts. He had Kyra and that’s what he stuck to; despite what people said or thought.

I believe that there is a very good lesson that can be learned from this story. It showed that no matter what to always follow your heart. Readers should take away the message I believe the author was trying to deliver. Love never fails. Those if your heart and mind are telling you to do something then do it.

 

I could relate to Kyra in this story. There was a boy that I really liked. He was very popular and every girl liked him or wanted him. I figured that there was nothing special about me that he would like. But as we got to know each other we started developing feelings for each other. There have been many times where I have also felt like Kyra. At times I’ve felt like some things that were given to me or happened to me were too amazing to be true.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Some strengths of this book is that it is very interesting. From the moment I picked up the book I didn’t want to put it down. A weakness of this book is that it is a “typical” teenage love story. It’s the love story that you would expect to read about. If I could change anything in this book it would be to incorporate another character that was strongly against their relationship besides Lisa.

 

I would recommend this book to other people. Even though it is a love story the message that the story delivers can be used in all aspects of your life. 

This class of Orange Stream can check our Quarter 4 English Benchmarks off our long list of projects and bench marks!

FINALLY !!!
*^LINK^*

The Macbeth Charter Analysis was when we had to  describe the charter change of either Macbeth or lady Macbeth. While incorporating 10 quotes from the passage. I chose to describe Lady Macbeths change from power hungry woman to a lunatic fraught with guilt.

English BM1 (original)

Robert Jenkins

 

Thesis Statement-Lady Macbeth went from a power hungry woman to a lunatic filled with guilt who is a threat to Macbeth’s throne. But also cause Macbeth to turn evil as well.

 

This Quote was said in Act 1 Scene 5 page 17 and told by Lady Macbeth. It takes place after she just finish reading a letter Macbeth Sends her after he is name Thane of Cardor and the witches propensity tells him he will be king but she doesn’t believe he has the guts to take over therefore she wants to gain power. She wants to be treated has a man because they have power. The Quote is “Come you sprits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. This is important to her growth it shows that she wants power in her life and to help Macbeth get to were he needs to be king.

This Quote was said in Act 1 Scene 7 page 22 and told by Lady Macbeth after she tells Macbeth they should plan to murder Duncan. She says it because she wants him to agree with her ideas. The Quote is “As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life And live a coward in thine own esteem, “ This is important because it shows how that she is evil and is ready to stop at nothing to gain the power she seeks.

This Quote is said in Act 1 Scene 7 line page 22 and is told by Lady Macbeth. This is said as her and Macbeth is talking about killing Duncan and she is trying to convince him to do it. By saying is not a man and he is a coward. She says to Macbeth “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be much more the man. “This is important because this is one of her techniques to get Macbeth to do as she please so that she can have power as the Queen.

This Queto was told by Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7 on page 23.It talks as if that Lady Macbeth trickery and Indirect reasoning to make him believe he could kill Duncan and get away with it. He says, “False face must hide what the false heart follow. Which is important because if Lady Macbeth can get her husband to believe in himself and go with the plan she would be one step closer to her goal. Also it tells how even with out doing something herself she stills know how to get what she wants.

This is told by Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2 page 29-30.This is right after the murder of Duncan is committed and Macbeth is placing the daggers on the servants. She says, “Retire we to our chamber A little water cleans us of this deed. This is important because from that part of the passage it shows how Lady Macbeth had no regret for her actions. This is because she is only in the thought if protecting herself and getting what she wants.

The next part of the passage I will analyze is said In Act 3 Scene 4 page 52.It is at the dinner honoring Macbeth as the new king of the land. It states, “You shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed, and regard him not- Are you a man?” This Statement is important because it shows how that Lady Macbeth is able to with stand her pure evil plan even when her loyal partner is not.

This Quote was said in Act 5 Scene 1 page 83 said by a Doctor. This is when a doctor and a woman are looking after Lady Macbeth. The Doctor says, “ I have teo nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report. “This is important because the Gentlewoman has seen Lady Macbeth acting strange at different times of the night but she has no clue why.

The Gentlewoman says this Quote in Act 5 Scene 1 page 84. This is as the Gentlewoman and Doctor watch Lady Macbeth as she sleeps and notice that she is up sleepwalking. She says, “Ay, but their sense are shut. “This is important because after they see that she is sleep walking they continue to watch and as they do Lady Macbeth begins to tell important secrets that her and Macbeth share.

Lady Macbeth tells this Quote on page 84 Act 5 Scene 1. It is as Lady Macbeth sleep walks and start to talk to herself. She says “Out, damned spot! Out, Isay! One – two – why when ‘tis time to do’t. This is important because this is her first showing of guilt. This is because she guilty about the murder that her he Macbeth have done that she begins to sleep walk and talk about a spot of blood on her that she can’t get off her. Also with out knowing she gives the information of the murder to the doctor and gentlewoman.

Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 3 tells this Quote on page 89.This is after Malcolm, Siward and Macduff have made an alliance to come kill Macbeth. Also Lady Macbeth is still sick and ill. He says to the doctor “ Cure her of that Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased”. This is important because this is Lady Macbeth final change because she has now became crazy and now she is becoming a distraction. For example Macbeth has to worry about this alliance coming to fight him but also has to worry about his wife health. Which is splitting his mind on too two thoughts, as he must make critical decisions as king.

 

Conclusion-Lady Macbeth’s transformation was more crucial to the plot of the story because as described in my quote it tells how this whole idea and plan to become king and queen was her’s. But after finally achieving it she gets guilty about what she has just caused he then gives up Macbeth secret. Which makes the whole country turn on him and ends his reign as king and his life as a man.

English BM (Revised)

Robert Jenkins

 

Thesis Statement-Lady Macbeth went from a power hungry woman to a lunatic filled with guilt ,  threatening Macbeth’s throne and causing him to turn evil like her.

 

In Act 1 scene 5 page 17 Lady Macbeth just finish reading a letter Macbeth sends her after he is named Thane of Cardor and the witches prophesy tells him he will be king but she doesn’t believe he has the guts to take over therefore she wants to gain power. She wants to be treated has a man because they have power. The Quote is “Come you sprits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here”. This is her way of ask the sprits to give her  man like qualities so she can kill the king her self and have power. This is important to her growth it shows that she does want the  power in her life and to help Macbeth get to were he needs to be king.

This Quote was said in Act 1 Scene 7 page 22 and told by Lady Macbeth after she tells Macbeth they should plan to murder Duncan. She says it because she wants him to agree with her ideas. The Quote is “As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life And live a coward in thine own esteem, “ This is important because it shows how that she is evil and is ready to stop at nothing to gain the power she seeks.

This Quote is said in Act 1 Scene 7 line page 22 and is told by Lady Macbeth. This is said as her and Macbeth is talking about killing Duncan and she is trying to convince him to do it. By saying is not a man and he is a coward. She says to Macbeth “When you durst do it, then you were a man; and to be much more the man. “This is important because this is one of her techniques to get Macbeth to do as she please so that she can have power as the Queen.

This quote was told by Macbeth in Act 1 Scene 7 on page 23. It talks as if that Lady Macbeth trickery and indirect reasoning to make him believe he could kill Duncan and get away with it. He says, “False face must hide what the false heart know.” Which is important because if Lady Macbeth can get her husband to believe in himself and go with the plan she would be one step closer to her goal. Also it tells how even with out doing something herself she stills know how to get what she wants.

This is told by Lady Macbeth in Act 2 Scene 2 page 29-30.This is right after the murder of Duncan is committed and Macbeth is placing the daggers on the servants. She says, “Retire we to our chamber A little water cleans us of this deed. This is important because from that part of the passage it shows how Lady Macbeth had no regret for her actions. This is because she is only in the thought if protecting herself and getting what she wants.

The next part of the passage is said in Act 3 Scene 4 page 52.It is at the dinner honoring Macbeth as the new king of the land. It states, to the Thanes: “You shall offend him and extend his passion. Feed, and regard him not”. Meaning to disregard Macbeth for the moment and just enjoy the food. Then Lady Macbeth turns around to Macbeth and says “Are you a man?” Meaning basically what are you doing stick with the plan stop acting crazy. This Statement is important because it shows how that Lady Macbeth is able to with stand her pure evil plan even when her loyal partner is not.

This Quote was said in Act 5 Scene 1 page 83 said by a Doctor. This is when a doctor and a woman are looking after Lady Macbeth. The Doctor says, “ I have two nights watched with you, but can perceive no truth in your report. “This is important because the Gentlewoman has seen Lady Macbeth acting strange at different times of the night but she has no clue why.

The Gentlewoman says this Quote in Act 5 Scene 1 page 84. This is as the Gentlewoman and Doctor watch Lady Macbeth as she sleeps and notice that she is up sleepwalking. She says, “Ay, but their sense are shut”. “This is important because after they see that she is sleep walking they continue to watch and as they do Lady Macbeth begins to tell important secrets that her and Macbeth share.

Lady Macbeth tells this Quote on page 84 Act 5 Scene 1. It is as Lady Macbeth sleep walks and start to talk to herself. She says “Out, damned spot! Out, Isay! One – two – why when ‘tis time to do’t. This is important because this is her first showing of guilt. This is because she guilty about the murder that her he Macbeth have done that she begins to sleep walk and talk about a spot of blood on her that she can’t get off her. Also with out knowing she gives the information of the murder to the doctor and gentlewoman.

Macbeth in Act 3 Scene 3 tells this Quote on page 89.This is after Malcolm, Siward and Macduff have made an alliance to come kill Macbeth. Also Lady Macbeth is still sick and ill. Macbeth says to the doctor “ Cure her of that Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased”. This is important because this is Lady Macbeth final change because she has now became crazy and now she is becoming a distraction. For example Macbeth has to worry about this alliance coming to fight him but also has to worry about his wife’s health. Which is splitting his mind on too two thoughts, as he must make critical decisions as king.

Lady Macbeth’s transformation was more crucial to the plot of the story because as described it shows how this whole idea and plan to become king and queen was her’s. But after finally achieving it she gets guilty about what she has just caused he then gives up Macbeth secret. Which makes the whole country turn on him and ends his reign as king and his life as a man. The message from Shakespeare is the consequents to be being fraught with evil can be that you soon to become crazy for power.

This is my second book report of the year. We must do one every semester and I chose to do mine on the Maximum Ride series for the second and last one.

 

 

Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel

Nicholas Murray

Orange

 

 

The book I chose to read was Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel. This book is the 7^th book out of the best selling series Maximum Ride. The books in order are “The Angel Experiment”, “School’s out – Forever”, “Saving the World and other Extreme Sports”, “The Final Warning”, “Max: A Maximum Ride Novel”, “Fang: A Maximum Ride Novel” and the latest one “Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel”. The author of my book is James Paterson, who is also the author of Daniel X books.

 

Leading up to this book Max (the main character) has been set out on a mission to save the world. Max is a girl who has wings and has developed amazing abilities. Along with her flock with Iggy, Gazzy, Angel, Nudge and their new member Dylan they are determined to save us all. Along the way they have conflicts with other people like there enemies and revivals, with society for being different, and with themselves. In this book Fang, Max’s ex-boyfriend and the person who left the flock starts a new flock. His flock included Maya (Max’s clone), Ratchet (super senses), Holden (regeneration), Kate (super strong) and Star (super speed). Jeb, Dr. Hans, Max’s mom and her stepsister Ella all disappear one after another. First Dr. Hans disappears when they all go to meet the Gen 77 kids but the plane is ripped apart by wires with him being last seen in there, Jeb and her mom left while Angel, Dylan and Max go to meet some of the Gen 77 kids who could care less about humans. Ella disappeared after she was un-brainwashed after the Doomsday group (DG) made her a “zombie”. After this Max’s flock and Fang’s flock decide to join forces to stop the DG. If they don’t the DG will kill all the humans.

 

They soon all head to Paris (after a few disagreements) in order to infiltrate a DG rally. After they are invited Angel and Gazzy go under cover to get to the source. While the rest of her flock blend in, she sends max a thought (one of her many powers) saying there is trouble and max comes to find enough bombs and gas to kill all the Gen 77 kids and poison thousand of people. Gazzy (the 9 year old bomb expert) and Angel stay to disarm them while the others fight and try evacuate the Gen 77 kids. In the end the some of the bombs go off and everyone but Angel seems to escape. The 2 flocks split again, Max’s heart broken. Angel wakes up blind folded and strapped to a table unable to move or read anyone’s mind, alone. A strange person tell her everything will be ok,  “You’re very special. We’re going to take good care of you.” She cries.

 

My favorite character in this book is Angel. She has many skills like being able to fight like Chuck Norris, mind reading, being able to control people and her intelligence. And on top of that the fact that she is only 7, which is impressive. Also, in this book she was not as evil as before with always back stabbing her flock. She has always been border lined between good and evil but shaped up in this book. And I like how that no matter how tough she is, she is still human enough to cry.  

 

I could really relate to angel, but mainly in this book. In this book Angel was trying her best to redeem herself from all the treachery in the best so she stepped her game up. She gave it her all and even risked her own life, and in the end, Max forgave her. I’ve the same way too. Done something horrible and lost someone’s trust and have to try my best to get it back. The theme of this book is that no matter have different you are (like the flock) you are still human. Their actions are the same as any other person.

 

This was an amazing book for me to read. The book was very engaging to the reader was very descriptive and had a good balance of action and the actual story. This book also had some good unanswered question so that the reader will want to read the next book. It would be better if the action scenes were more vivid and I could a better comprehension of what was happening during the fights. I would also enjoy it more if the were a little more action. I recommend this book and I recommend you read the earlier books in the series. Also, I recommend you read The End of Maximum Ride, the 8^th and final book in the series, coming February 2012! Also look out for other books by James Patterson.

Reflection:

What struck me the most as I read over my portfolio was that my writing has improved greatly throughout my 9^th grade year.  When people read my writing I want them to feel impressed by what they read and learn from the content. My voice when writing has become much more articulate and engaging.  I have developed my own sound to my writing, one which I think could stick with people. My passion this year in English has been writing.  I still don’t have a love of reading and I’m not a fan of tests. But all in all I’ve coped with the workload of 9^th grade English and I’m ready for 10^th grade.

My experience of making this portfolio was an interesting one. I don’t usually enjoy looking back on my past work, but I felt that I grew a fair amount this year and I wouldn’t have realized it if I hadn’t looked back. The piece that I am most proud of has to be my vignette. It was a personal story for me, a reminiscent look back at one of my favorite people who is no longer in my life.

 

Benchmark 1: The purpose of this benchmark was to understand a character from Macbeth using quotes and quote analysis. The character that I chose was Macbeth.

 

Thesis: At the beginning of the play Macbeth was a kind and brave person by the end he was evil and corrupted.

In Act 1 Scene 2 on page 4, line 16, The captain is talking about Macbeth to King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, and Lennox. He says, “For brave Macbeth—well he deserves that name—” The captain is talking about what a brave soldier and good fighter Macbeth is in battle. This is important to the growth of his character because it helps to see how others perceive him at the beginning of the play. This quote is effective because it helps see that at the beginning of the play people liked him and think he is a brave soldier. Macbeth showed his bravery by going into battle and slaying his enemy.

In Act 1 Scene 3 on page 12, lines 130-138, Macbeth is talking to himself after he hears the witches prophesy. “This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, why hath it given me earnest of success, commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor. If good, why do I yield to that suggestion whose horrid image doth unfix my hair and make my seat            ed heart knock at my ribs, Against the use of nature? Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.” Macbeth is wondering about what the witches have said. Becoming Thane of Cawdor is a good thing but he is not sure why now he is thinking about killing his friend, King Duncan. It horrifies him that he is thinking about it.  At this point in the play he still knows the difference between good and bad actions and is able to question his evil thoughts.

In Act 1 Scene 5 on page 16, lines 15-17, Lady Macbeth is reading a letter she received from Macbeth, she says out loud to herself, “What thou art promised. Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness.” Lady Macbeth is worried about whether or not Macbeth has what it takes to take the crown and become king. She thinks he is too kind. She thinks he is not aggressive enough or mean enough. She also thinks that he is not capable to do what he needs to do in order to be king because he is too good of a man. At this point in the play, she’s right, he is too kind.

In Act 2 Scene 1 page 25 lines 34-65, Macbeth is talking to Banquo about the witches prophesy. After Banquo leaves, Macbeth is talking to himself and begins to hallucinate “Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee…Thou marshall’st me the way that I was going, And such an instrument I was to use…There’s no such thing. It is the bloody business which informs Thus to mine eyes…Whiles I threat, he lives. Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives. I go, and it is done. The bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, For it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell.” Macbeth is debating whether or not to kill King Duncan. His courage comes and goes through out this soliloquy.  In the end he decides to go through with the murder. This is the turning point for him. He is starting to loose his sense of reality when he thinks there is a dagger in front of him that isn’t there. However the fact that he is debating with himself about whether or not to kill means he hasn’t lost all sense of right and wrong yet.

In Act 2 Scene 2 on page 29 lines 51-54, Macbeth is talking to Lady Macbeth directly after Macbeth murders King Duncan. The tension is high. He says, “I’ll go no more: I am afraid to think what I have done; Look on ’t again I dare not.”

Macbeth is completely freaked out by the fact that he has killed King Duncan. Lady Macbeth wants him to go put the bloody daggers next to the servants to frame them for the crime but he can’t bring himself to do it. He has post-traumatic stress disorder. His reaction to what has happened says that at this point in the play he is wrestling with the two sides of himself, the good, kind brave side and the evil power hungry side.

In Act 3 Scene 4 on page 55-56, lines 135-141 Macbeth is again talking to Lady Macbeth, and says, “More shall they speak, for now I am bent to know, By the worst means, the worst. For mine own good, All causes shall give way. I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er.

Strange things I have in head, that will to hand, Which must be acted ere they may be scanned.” Macbeth is concerned with himself and his own good and wellbeing. This is a change for him. Where before he felt bad about what he had done, now he feels that he can’t possibly go back to being a good person. He feels that he is in this so far now that there is no turning back. He has converted to be an evil person and has more cold-blooded things that he thinking about doing.

In Act 4 Scene 1 lines 104-108 on page 65-66, Macbeth is talking to himself. This is while he is receiving the apparitions. “Then live, Macduff. What need I fear of thee? But yet I’ll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate. Thou shalt not live, That I may tell pale-hearted fear it lies, And sleep in spite of thunder.” While talking to himself, first Macbeth thinks that he won’t kill Macduff, because Macduff is not a problem for him. Then he decides why not just kill him anyway, then he won’t have to worry about him at all and he’ll be able to sleep better. At this point in the play Macbeth has lost all sense of right and wrong.

In Act 4 Scene 3 lines 15-17 on page 73 Malcolm and Macduff are having a conversation about Macbeth while they are in England. They are planning on overthrowing Macbeth. They are saying, “You may deserve of him through me, and wisdom To offer up a weak, poor, innocent lamb T' appease an angry god.” Macduff and Malcolm are talking about how evil and angry Macbeth is acting. He is the angry god they Malcolm is talking about. This is one of the first times that others have started to talk about the change in Macbeth.  The fact that people are noticing Macbeth’s behavior and want to get overthrow him, says that he must be really out of control.

In Act 5 Scene 3 on page 89 lines 39-47 Macbeth and the doctor are having a conversation about Lady Macbeth. The doctor says to Macbeth about Lady Macbeth, ”Not so sick, my lord, As she is troubled with thick-coming fancies That keep her from her rest.” Macbeth then says,  “Cure her of that. Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain And with some sweet oblivious antidote Cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart?”  The doctor is saying that Lady Macbeth is not really sick, but she is troubled with what is on her mind. Macbeth is becoming scared that Lady Macbeth will tell people in her sleep what Macbeth has done. His conscious is feeling guilty of all the wrongs he has done, but he more scared that he will get caught.  Even though he feels some guilt the fact that he is more concerned about his own well being and less concerned about what he has done, means he is selfish and self centered.

In Act 5 Scene 8 on page 96-97 lines 32-34 Macbeth is talking to Macduff. They are getting ready to fight to the death. “Yet I will try the last. Before my body I throw my warlike shield. Lay on, Macduff, And damned be him that first cries, “Hold, enough!” Macbeth is saying he will fight Macduff till one of them dies. He is so driven to get to the top. He is willing to risk his life to get there. He would rather die then surrender. This is the end of the play and he has completely lost any sense of his former self.  He is no longer the kind or brave person that he was, instead he is driven person who wants more and more power.

Macbeth has gone from a brave and courageous symbol to a man who will do anything to get to the top.  He has killed friends and watched as his wife has gone crazy and died and nothing has affected his climb to where he thinks he should be based on the witches prophesy. Shakespeare’s message in this play could be just because someone predicts that something will happen doesn’t mean you need to make it happen.  Instead you should follow your heart and mind.

 

Benchmark 2: The idea behind this project was to help students connect with the reader. I chose to write about my grandfather.

 

                                                Grandpa and his Eggs

Grandpa is dead but his eggs live on. (opener) Grandpa lived in Chicago where every Thanksgiving my family goes to visit. Every year my grandfather would make a humungous and delicious breakfast, which included scrambled eggs. This was a tradition that was started by his family, passed down to him and now onto my family.

As soon as I was old enough to hold a fork I loved to volunteer to help with the eggs. There were so many people at breakfast one year I ended up cracking 30 eggs.  There I was only about three feet tall standing on a step stool so I could reach the counter. It was hard work and my hands were so cold they turned as blue as a corpse. (simile) My grandfather knew when to be serious and when to be humorous. And when he was humorous he was hilarious. That day he kept saying, “Put the eggs in the sink and the shells into the bowl.” (dialogue) This made me think that the whole breakfast could be ruined because of me. One time I did end up actually doing that. I then quickly and stealthily snuck the suspects into their proper places. He didn’t see me. After all the eggs were cracked we mixed them with a fork. It was really fun but tiring. I let my older brother Andrew take over for a minute while I went to help my grandpa with the bagels. Andrew said he was tired after what felt like a split second and that I needed to come back. Grandpa was very particular about the mixing, so I returned. You need to use just the right amount of wrist action, quick and continuous. It’s like riding a bicycle at top speed or like a cheetah running after it’s prey. It’s what I imagine driving a Lamborghini down a country road would feel like. (metaphor and magic 3)

Grandpa added all the ingredients, salt, pepper, tiny bit of milk, and then said, “Now, we need the secret ingredient.” He told me when I was old enough he would tell me what the special ingredient was. My mom knows what it is. I think my aunt and uncle know too. Now that I think about it the secret was never very secretive. He reached under the counter and pulled out a dark bottle. I was confused about what it was. I believe that was the first time I saw the bottle. He surreptitiously added a few drops of the liquid. My curiosity was greater than my patience, so the next day I peeked. The bottle was wrapped in brown paper with writing on it. I couldn’t pronounce the word and I obviously couldn’t ask anyone for help.

When we finally sat down to eat breakfast it was so scrumptious and everyone had plenty to eat. The conversation was lively and people were enjoying themselves. It made my grandpa really satisfied when people would eat his eggs. It made me happy to help him be happy.

The tradition of making scrambled eggs doesn’t sound like much, but when you hear my mom or my aunt or my uncle talk about the eggs there is a certain vibe that you get. Now sometimes I hear my brother and I talk that way too. I can’t really tell you what it’s all about, but I do think it has everything to do with connecting us to our mother, our grandfather, and our great-grandfather, and his parents and on and on. Tradition is like passing the torch at the opening ceremony of the Olympics or passing a baton in a relay race. (metaphor) It unites people and brings people together for a common experience.

So, Grandpa is dead but I still eat his eggs almost everyday. Oh, and that secret ingredient…can’t tell.

Benchmark 3: For this benchmark we were supposed to write compare and contrast essay between and “The Odyssey” and O Brother Where Out Thou.

                                              Odysseus vs. Everett

Life is a big journey. Each person has a different way of living their life. This holds true for Odysseus in the poem “The Odyssey” and for Everett in the movie Oh Brother Where Art Thou. From an outside perspective Odysseus and Everett have similar journeys; however, their philosophies differ vastly from one another making for two very separate, yet equally entertaining stories.

Even though both Odysseus and Everett eventually end back at their homes, they needed to escape from some places to finally arrive there. One man is escaping from a prison chain gang, while the other is escaping from the beautiful woman, Calypso on the island of Ogygia. Both men are being held prisoner against their will. Everett and his two cellmates Pete and Delmar are running from the law, and have many adventures on their way home. A few examples of these adventures are: they needed to have money so they recorded a hit song, they got baptized for the fun of it thinking it would clear them of their sins, and they disrupted a KKK ceremony in order to save a friend. Odysseus on the way home from Calypso, narrowly resists the Sirens that were trying to seduce him. He travels to the land of the Lotus Eaters where his men eat the Lotus flower and forget their mission and stop caring about what they set out to do. He visits the island of Cyclops where he must escape from Poseidon’s son Polyphemus. After getting Polyphemus drunk and blinding him, he and his men quietly escape under his sheep. “That flock, those well-fed rams with their splendid thick fleece, sturdy, handsome beasts, sporting their dark weight of wool. I lashed them abreast, quietly, twisting the willow-twigs the Cyclops slept on.” (Book 9, lines 474-478) Both men overcome their obstacles and challenges, and continue their mission to arrive safely at home.

Each mans wife is going to marry someone else unless the men get back home in time. Many suitors are perusing Odysseus’ wife Penelope in Ithaca. Odysseus wants to get off the island where he is being held captive by Calypso to get back to his wife. Calypso tells Odysseus, “But if you only knew, down deep, what pains are fated to fill your cup before you reach that shore, you’d stay right here, preside in our house with me and be immortal. Much as you long to see your wife the one you pine for all your days.” (Book 5, lines 228-232) This quote talks about how nice his life could be if he stayed with Calypso and yet he still wants to go home to his wife.  His wife, wants Odysseus home too, but soon will run out of reasons why she can’t marry a suitor. She has been trying to hold off the suitors for some time. Everett’s’ wife on the other hand is going to marry someone else and is lying about his whereabouts. She told their kids that a train had hit him. Everett wants to get back to her, for the simple reason that he still loves her. When the sheriff is about to hang them, Everett prays to God that he can see his wife and kids again. This shows that Everett has deep feelings for his family. His wife on the other hand does not want Everett, but despite this, she is married to him, and it is against the law to be married to more then one man. Both men are committed to their given spouses, and will do anything to get home regardless of them getting side tracked often.

Although both Odysseus and Everett tell many lies throughout the course of their journeys, they lie for different reasons. Everett lies for selfish reasons, while Odysseus lies for the good of his team. In Oh Brother Where Art Thou during the group’s travels, Everett confesses that there is no treasure, it is the bait he used in order to have help escaping and getting home. This means that Everett was very being very selfish. Odysseus on the other hand lies to his men for their safety while traveling. One time he lies because he has to choose between challenging Scylla, or Charybdis. He knows that six men will die when he goes to the monster Scylla. It is between losing six men or losing all of them in the whirlpool, Charybdis. He doesn’t tell the men any of this, he just spurs them into action. He thinks that if he were to tell them everything then they wouldn’t want to do it knowing that six of them would die.  “Now wailing in fear, we road on up those straights, Scylla to starboard, dreaded Charybdis off to port… But now, fearing death, all eyes fixed on Charybdis/now Scylla snatched six men from our hollow ship,”… (Book 12, lines 53-54 and 65-66)

The journeys of Odysseus and Everett are similar; however, their approaches to their situations are dissimilar. Even though they both needed to escape from places in order to get home, their treks were very divergent. Even though both of their wives are going to marry someone else if they don’t get to them in time, their relationships with their spouses are very different, and even though they both tell many lies for different reasons their actions are varied. They each faced many obstacles in their path to get home.  These paths are filled with diverse twists and turns, each man fought through the hardships they faced. In this way they are the same. It is their thinking and motivation that is the most contrasted.

 

Me Magazine: The “me” magazine was the first thing that we did this year. It was meant to help teach everyone about who you are. It was fun but difficult to talk about myself that much.

My me magazine can be found in the multimedia section of this blog.

Independent reading: (Flowers For Algernon) My independent reading assignment was flowers for Algernon. For this project we read a book of our choice and wrote a review of that book.

 

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes is an award-winning novel that was written in 1959. Adaptations of the book have taken many forms, including a television drama, an international stage play, even a musical. The most well known adaptation is the movie called Charly.

     Flowers for Algernon is about a man named Charlie Gordon. Charlie was born with a low IQ. He gets chosen for an experimental operation that is supposed to make him more intelligent. He is asked to write progress reports about his feelings before and after the operation. The novel is made up of the progress reports.  Another character in the book is a mouse named Algernon. He receives the same operation before Charlie and therefore Charlie can gauge what will happen to himself next, based on Algernon’s behavior. For example, Charlie and Algernon race through a simple maze pattern. Algernon always wins the race until one day Charlie is able to complete the maze before Algernon. That is when Charlie realizes he is getting to be as smart as Algernon. This information works in reverse too.

     Charlie’s personality changes drastically throughout the book as his intelligence changes. This is hard for both himself and for the people around him. When his IQ is low he is happy and carefree. As he becomes smarter he alienates and intimidates both his friends and his doctors. I believe that what people should take away from this book is that intelligence isn’t everything. He gained intelligence but lost friends. This book is full of conflicts. Smart Charlie vs. intellectually challenged Charlie, Charlie vs. the scientists, could be viewed as Charlie vs. society. And finally Charlie vs. Algernon, which could be seen as person vs. person or perhaps in reality, person vs. animal.

     Algernon is my favorite character, even though he doesn’t have any lines in the book he speaks loudly through his movements. His relationship with Charlie is a true friendship. They grow and learn together and build an everlasting bond even through the demise of one of them.

      This book is truly enjoyable. I like how in the beginning Charlie’s progress reports are filled with spelling errors. As his intelligence grows one can not only hear the difference in his word patterns but also see the spelling changes. This is a wonderful and clear-cut way to illuminate the stages of Charlie’s growth. I love happy endings and would loved it if Charlie had stayed smart and nothing had happened to Algernon but I realize that those aspects of the book need to happen for the point to come across that the author was trying to make.

    There are certain aspects to the book that I can’t relate to because I don’t understand how people think they can accurately measure intelligence and feel that it is so important. What does it mean to be intelligent?  Why is intelligence so valued in our society? Charlie was a whole and good person before the operation, why did they need to change him?

    I believe that the scientists that performed the experiment on Charlie did not have the right to do it because Charlie was not in a knowledgeable state of mind at the time.  It is a big decision to make for someone. I feel that they were taking advantage of Charlie for their own purposes.

     The strength of this book would be the wonderful character journey that it took me on. I can’t really think of any weakness’ in the book therefore I would definitely 100% recommend this book.  It is a wonderful easy read, and everyone can get something out of reading this book.

6 Top Journal Entries: Over the coarse of this year we all kept a journal, these are my 6 top journal entries because I think they convey the purpose of keeping a journal.

 

Journal #1: Expectations put on me consist of everything being perfect and right. I feel bad about this and it causes me stress, because every time I do anything I try to make it perfect. I will try to not be a perfectionist in the future.

 

Journal #2: Dear only white person in the class,

It sounds stressful to you that you are looking around the class and all you can see is the fact that you happen to be the only white person in the class. Do you see anything that you can relate to or have in common with anyone?  Why is it that all you are seeing is color?

 I understand that it is stressful and uncomfortable, but if you look vulnerable someone could take advantage of that and hurt you.  If instead you try to look confidant it could make a difference. Fake it till you make it. That’s a saying that my family always says. It means put on a face that maybe you don’t feel on the inside, but it will seep in if you let it. Sometimes when I’m feeling down I tell myself to just smile and soon I actually feel happy.

Take a moment and imagine months from now. Could you imagine being friends or at least having a conversation with ANY one in the class?  I have done experiments about this concept. The results show that if you think strongly about a certain thing, that increases the probability that your goals will come true.

How about seeing if anyone in the room has any of the same interests as you. This could take some time and could possibly kill you, so you might want to wait this one out. But possibly someone could like animals like you may like them or they could like the same kind of food.  Or even the same music.

There is always more than meets the eye initially with people. Just like you want people to like you for who you are and give you a chance to show them who you are, you need to do the same for others.

 Everyone in the school has preconceived notions about who should hang out with whom and who can get along with who. That is a bunch of shit. We are all people. We all have skin and bones and muscles. Yes, we have our differences but we are made of the same stuff. Accept the differences and embrace the similarities.

I understand, I really do, and I know this is a tough situation, but you need to take responsibility for getting placed in this class. You need to face the fact that you are on the same level as the others academically. Try your best, put on a face that others will want to look at and make friends with.

For all you know they could all be wondering the same thing as you, Why am I in this class? Know where people may be coming from and that you are not alone.

 

Journal #3: The time that I exceeded my expectations was on the Quarter1 English Benchmark. I didn’t think I would get such a good grade on it. I thought I would get an 80 something but I got a 93. I was pleasantly surprised and felt really good about it. Since I put such high expectations on myself the only time that I have exceeded someone else’s expectations is one time in Jr. High when I wrote a paper about a haunted house and the teacher thought it was exceptional. I feel better when I am writing other than say, doing a math problem. On the rubric for English it says exceeds expectations and it also said I did that a couple of times!

 

Journal #4: A hero is someone who saves someone or something. A hero is brave. Anyone can be a hero as long as they are doing something good. Not all heros are good people. If someone looks up to you, you are a hero to them. You can be a hero to yourself. ­A hero can make mistakes but they learn from them.

 

Journal #5 The group that I wanted to join was a baseball team. I tried out for the team but I didn’t want to get rejected. Before I tried out for that team I was on like 5 other All Star teams. I don’t know why I wouldn’t get on the team, because I was a good player. When I got the call saying I was on the team, I wasn’t really that surprised. When I went to my first practice I saw that everyone on the team was all around the same skill level as me. That’s when I realized that it was not going to be fun for me because I was only having fun when I was much better than everyone else. The people on the team also were not nice. For the rest of the season I complained. I never wanted to go to a practice or a game.

 

Journal #6:  I can’t really reflect on winter break because it went by so fast. Christmas was boring we didn’t do anything. Well, my family went to my grandmom’s house but we didn’t do anything while we were there except eat. Then again if I thought that was boring I should of waited until New Years. I think that was the worst New Years ever!!! My brother had a party at my house while my parents were at some other party. So since I didn’t want to talk to my parents friends I decided to get one of my brothers friends to convince my parents and my brother to let me go home. So I went home and my brother being the bad brother that he is said they were eating food so I would have to sit in another room keeping the dogs away from the food until everyone left. So me being a good brother, I sat with the dogs with nothing to do, for 3 1/2 hours.

 

For Quarter 3 Benchmark we had to pick two characters from The Odyssey and compare them. For this I chose to compare Helen and Penelope. I compared how both of these women were beautiful but one of them used her beauty to get whatever she wanted (Helen). This was one of my most favorite projects. I am very interested in Greek Mythology so while doing this project I felt like a kid in a candy store. I completed it as early as I could. I got a 92 on this assignment and I feel as though I greatly deserved it.

 

Thesis Statement: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them.

 

Helen of Troy and Penelope are two women that are featured in the Odyssey. Helen of Troy was considered a very beautiful woman. She was a demigoddess. There were many princes and suitors that wanted to marry her. Odysseus even wanted to marry her. In the end she chose Menelaus to marry. Eventually they had two children and Menelaus became the King of Sparta. Paris who is the Prince of Troy was sent by Aphrodite (goddess of love) to go wed Helen. While Menelaus was away at Crete, Paris took his chance. Paris took Helen back to Troy with him (it is unclear whether she went willingly or not). When Menelaus returned home he was furious to find this out. So he gathered his army and went to Troy; this is how the Trojan War began. She is known as “the face that launched 1,000 ships”. Penelope on the other hand is the complete opposite. She like Helen is beautiful, but she doesn’t use that to get her way. Penelope is a very intelligent woman. She is a mortal. She like Helen had to marry a suitor and she chose Odysseus. Helen is actually Penelope’s cousin, they’re relationship is very strained the two don’t get along. But Penelope is very faithful to her husband. For over 20 years he is gone from her life and not once does she cheat or have the desire to remarry.

 

 

          Penelope is a very intelligent and faithful woman. “And she begun to weave, and the weaving fine-spun, the yarns endless and she would lead us on” (Speaker: Antonius. Book 2, lines 103-204). Penelope did not want to marry any of the suitors. But she knew that just telling them no would not work. So what she had to do was come up with an elaborate plan on how to make it so she has a reason for not marrying one of them. So she came up with a weaving trick. Promising them that once she finished it she would choose one to wed. In actuality her plan all along was to unweave so she wouldn’t have to marry anyone. This is a very wise and clever trick that she pulls. In this sense she is like Helen. Even though Helen used her beauty to get what she wanted she still was very intelligent. If anything she tricked men more then anything. Both of these women are alike in the sense that they both have high intelligence.

 

 

Helen explains herself how she treats men. “I grieved too late for the madness Aphrodite sent me…neither brains nor beauty” (Speaker: Helen. Book 4, lines 301-304). Helen is telling them about what happened. Aphrodite sent Paris to go fall in love and marry Helen, and because of that the Trojan War started. This quote references to both Helen and Penelope in the sense of their differences. Because Helen was beautiful and lonely the moment Paris came along she went right to him. For 20 years about 140 have done nothing but try to marry Penelope. Because she is a faithful wife she did not once cheat on Odysseus or leave him for another man. She stood by him diligently, something that Helen doesn’t do when it comes to men.

 

         Even after a long period of time
Penelope is still not ready to move on. “Odysseus—if he could return to tend my life the renown I had would only grow in glory. Now my life is torment” (Speaker: Penelope. Book 19, lines 141-143).  This is Penelope talking towards the end of the Odyssey. She is explaining how she feels about Odysseus. For 20 years he has been away from her, for 20 years she has been without a husband. She is depressed and it feels like torment to her because she is without him. Her and Helen are dislike in this sense. Helen when her husband was gone for a little bit of time easily remarried. And when her new husband died she remarried immediately after that. Helen is the type of woman who feels like in order for her to be happy she has to be with a man, and the fact that she’s beautiful only adds to it. Romantically when it comes to men, Penelope is much stronger than Helen.

Conclusion: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them. Helen was a very very beautiful woman and she used that to her advantage. While Penelope on the other hand used her intelligence and dedication to get through life. They were both very smart and clever, but approached love differently.  I believe that the Greeks made both of these women for a reason. To show the different personalities that people can actually have.  Because the world is filled with Helen’s and Penelope’s

For Quarter 3 Benchmark we had to pick two characters from The Odyssey and compare them. For this I chose to compare Helen and Penelope. I compared how both of these women were beautiful but one of them used her beauty to get whatever she wanted (Helen). This was one of my most favorite projects. I am very interested in Greek Mythology so while doing this project I felt like a kid in a candy store. I completed it as early as I could. I got a 92 on this assignment and I feel as though I greatly deserved it.

 

Thesis Statement: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them.

 

Helen of Troy and Penelope are two women that are featured in the Odyssey. Helen of Troy was considered a very beautiful woman. She was a demigoddess. There were many princes and suitors that wanted to marry her. Odysseus even wanted to marry her. In the end she chose Menelaus to marry. Eventually they had two children and Menelaus became the King of Sparta. Paris who is the Prince of Troy was sent by Aphrodite (goddess of love) to go wed Helen. While Menelaus was away at Crete, Paris took his chance. Paris took Helen back to Troy with him (it is unclear whether she went willingly or not). When Menelaus returned home he was furious to find this out. So he gathered his army and went to Troy; this is how the Trojan War began. She is known as “the face that launched 1,000 ships”. Penelope on the other hand is the complete opposite. She like Helen is beautiful, but she doesn’t use that to get her way. Penelope is a very intelligent woman. She is a mortal. She like Helen had to marry a suitor and she chose Odysseus. Helen is actually Penelope’s cousin, they’re relationship is very strained the two don’t get along. But Penelope is very faithful to her husband. For over 20 years he is gone from her life and not once does she cheat or have the desire to remarry.

 

 

          Penelope is a very intelligent and faithful woman. “And she begun to weave, and the weaving fine-spun, the yarns endless and she would lead us on” (Speaker: Antonius. Book 2, lines 103-204). Penelope did not want to marry any of the suitors. But she knew that just telling them no would not work. So what she had to do was come up with an elaborate plan on how to make it so she has a reason for not marrying one of them. So she came up with a weaving trick. Promising them that once she finished it she would choose one to wed. In actuality her plan all along was to unweave so she wouldn’t have to marry anyone. This is a very wise and clever trick that she pulls. In this sense she is like Helen. Even though Helen used her beauty to get what she wanted she still was very intelligent. If anything she tricked men more then anything. Both of these women are alike in the sense that they both have high intelligence.

 

 

Helen explains herself how she treats men. “I grieved too late for the madness Aphrodite sent me…neither brains nor beauty” (Speaker: Helen. Book 4, lines 301-304). Helen is telling them about what happened. Aphrodite sent Paris to go fall in love and marry Helen, and because of that the Trojan War started. This quote references to both Helen and Penelope in the sense of their differences. Because Helen was beautiful and lonely the moment Paris came along she went right to him. For 20 years about 140 have done nothing but try to marry Penelope. Because she is a faithful wife she did not once cheat on Odysseus or leave him for another man. She stood by him diligently, something that Helen doesn’t do when it comes to men.

 

         Even after a long period of time
Penelope is still not ready to move on. “Odysseus—if he could return to tend my life the renown I had would only grow in glory. Now my life is torment” (Speaker: Penelope. Book 19, lines 141-143).  This is Penelope talking towards the end of the Odyssey. She is explaining how she feels about Odysseus. For 20 years he has been away from her, for 20 years she has been without a husband. She is depressed and it feels like torment to her because she is without him. Her and Helen are dislike in this sense. Helen when her husband was gone for a little bit of time easily remarried. And when her new husband died she remarried immediately after that. Helen is the type of woman who feels like in order for her to be happy she has to be with a man, and the fact that she’s beautiful only adds to it. Romantically when it comes to men, Penelope is much stronger than Helen.

Conclusion: Even though both Penelope and Helen had problems concerning men, love, and life; they both had different ways of dealing with them. Helen was a very very beautiful woman and she used that to her advantage. While Penelope on the other hand used her intelligence and dedication to get through life. They were both very smart and clever, but approached love differently.  I believe that the Greeks made both of these women for a reason. To show the different personalities that people can actually have.  Because the world is filled with Helen’s and Penelope’s

I think that sound is produced by the vibrations of the metal/wooden stick hitting against the metal part
of the xylophone and that is what creates the sound. For example when you hit the metal thing with the
stick and then we heard the noise we came to the conclusion that the reason why we could hear it was
because of the air particles around the metal piece that was vibrating the us could hear the sound.

A way that I can change the pitch with using a xylophone is to change the size of the metal pieces that
I will be using some can be thick and some can be thin. Some can be bigger than others. The specific
characteristics that will make a difference are if I make some metal pieces are small and some metal
pieces are big.

The materials that I will need for this instrument are metal, wood, wooden or metal stick and some
crews. Metal is for the pieces that will be banged on to create the sound, the wood is for the foundation
for the metal pieces to sit on, the screws are to keep the metal pieces in place and the wooden or metal
stick is to create the sound.

One question that I still have is, what kind of math is involved in creating any kind of instrument, but
specifically for my project a creating a xylophone.

This portfolio really shows how I have made huge process in my writing through out the year. The viewer should be able to get to know a little about me from reading  some of these pieces of work such as my all about me magazine and memoir notebook projects.

 

My weakness in writing would have to  be my spelling and grammar. My strength is the way I follow directions and is able give the teacher what they are looking for. I will continue to work on my grammar.

 

By writing this portfolio it was like a way to see how I have truly made progress as a writer. For example it shows how writing 2 page reports at 12 times font as became easier to do.

 

I am most proud of my Book Review on “The Beast”. I’m most proud of it because it was one of my best papers grammar and spelling wise and also had great organization. Also I’m proud that it is my highest grade work of the year.

Click here to view my project.

For the most part, this was an interesting and exciting project. I loved the fact that we had to actually venture out into the city and find evidence of globalization.

I found that collecting the pictures was the most fun but it was also the most challenging. After a day of collecting photos, I realized some of them did not suit the topics. For instance, for energy I took a picture of PECO but really PECO is not evidence of globalization here. A better example was BP, a British gas and oil company functioning here.

Moreover, it was a pretty easy process collecting the photos. I first chose the 10 topics I wanted to focus on then brainstormed ideas and tried to connect them to globalization before I went out and got them. 

My favorite photo was probably the Asian Bank one. I was just so fascinated by the idea that China created a branch to serve to a culture that chose to live here. 

Although globalization is very evident in the city of Philadelphia, I think it is even more prevalent in bigger cities such as Chicago. Just from personal experience, I know that when I went to Chicago I was shocked by its size and even more diversity. And I believe that there are more opportunities for globalization when areas are more dense, more diverse and just bigger in general. 

The next benchmark we were given was the memoir vignette unit. This benchmark seemed like more of a challenge then the first one. We had to take a moment from our life and basically write a paper on it, this sounds easier then what it actually is. In this paper had to be literary elements included, and we had to mark where they were. This to me was the most difficult thing about this benchmark. I did not believe that I was capable of making this work; but it did. This benchmark taught me that I am stronger then what I actually previously thought.

         “Back to Hell”

 

“If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” – Johann von Goethe. (Opener)

Growing up my family moved a lot. Up to the age I am now we have lived in 5 or 6 houses.  In the beginning of second grade I found out we were moving to Georgia. I felt like it was the worst possible news. There were too many friends and family up here for me to be okay with this. The only people we knew who lived do in Georgia were my aunt and her two daughters. My parents told my two brothers and I we were moving to Powder Springs, a suburb about 20 minutes away from Atlanta. I’d never heard of this place and couldn’t point it out on a map.

The next couple months it consisted of packing up rooms and throwing away old dolls that had one eye and half of her outfit (imagery). The biggest reason for my resentment of moving; our house was humongous. It had a basement, plus 3 floors. I thought no house could get better than that.

The car ride down there even though I didn’t show it, I was the saddest girl in the world. It was around a twelve-hour ride down there. In the car I would look over at the farms that we passed as we were entering the South. All I could think is what did we get ourselves into. There were papers that had to be signed and the real estate agent had to give us the keys to the house so the first couple of nights were spent in a hotel.

The day we moved in was scary for me. We pulled into a subdivision called “Taylor Farms”. I found it a little humorous that it had my name; as though it was telling me I belonged there (personification). When we drove into the subdivision I looked in amazement. There were mansion looking houses with perfect gardens and lawns. Kids’ played with each other in the street, and adult were engaging in conversation. Everyone seemed happy. We pulled up to a house that had a moving truck in the driveway and I knew it was ours. Suddenly my whole mood changed. It looked like 3 times of what our old house was. There was no chipped paint on the house, no driveway we had to share, and no loud noises around (magic three). In fact it was the most peaceful place I had ever been. My glass quickly became halfway full.

As soon as we moved in we were greeted with neighbors and open arms. They presented to be a little too nice, like they were the Stepford wives or something (simile). They brought by cakes and pies and went on and on about how excited they were to have new neighbors. A week went by and I simply loved it. My room was twice what it was before. There were three gigantic bathrooms, which meant not waiting for someone else to come out.  For the 5 of us it was heaven.

We started school about a week and a half after moving. I ended up at Baggett Elementary School. I quickly made friends with girls named Ayanna, Jillian, Taylor, and Danahja. Danahja was from Chester, PA and had just moved down there to live with her grandmother. I had lucked out, I found somebody who just like me was in a new environment and afraid. Ayanna lived in the same subdivision as me, she lived around the corner so she and I spent most of our time together. Almost every weekend I was staying at her house since all the people our age lived on her street and the creek was there. In movies they always show how kids in the suburbs have a hangout spot, well ours was the creek.

In fact life down there seemed like a movie. It was almost to good to be true. There hadn’t been not one fight to my knowledge. The whole time I was down there I only saw the police once. When my neighbors recently got a divorce and they were debating about who was going to get the dog. Our next-door neighbor Mr. Miles and his son were from Philadelphia also. So that was nice to have someone close who was from the same area. My aunt and cousins lived 15 minutes away, and surprisingly they were the only family I wanted and needed down there.

For two years my life consisted of watching Disney Channel, sleepovers every weekend, and birthday parties at a store called Lulu. (Magic three) Friday night seeing my older brother play basketball, going swimming in my back yard, and having barbeques. (Magic three) For two years my life consisted of nothing but pure happiness, but that was sure to change.

My father was having a hard trouble getting a good job down there. In Philadelphia he had a job that paid very well. So our only option was moving back to Philadelphia. One afternoon my parents called all of us in the living room for a “talk”. They both had sad looks on their faces as though someone had just died. My mom announced that there wasn’t enough money being brought in so we had to move back. I quickly burst out in tears. I felt as thought she had taken away my sanity. For two years I had been the happiest girl you had ever seen and in that second all of that was snatched from me.

Moving back meant living in a house that was squeezed tightly on a street with other houses. It meant every night instead if going to sleep hearing sounds of trees blowing I would go to bed hearing police sirens and people arguing. It meant moving back to the last place I wanted to be. Why would my parents put us through moving again? I hated Philadelphia and everything about it.

Why would we leave a place where the nicest people lived, to a place where rudeness stands on every corner? Trade a place where the most I got to do was go outside and play double-dutch for a place where I could ride my bike and go for a walk. Why would they trade Heaven for Hell? (Repetition for effect) Moving just didn’t mean trading my front lawn for nothing more than a porch; it meant changing my way of thinking. Moving back to Philadelphia meant whenever ever I go out I would have to put on a facade instead of my real personality.

My Pop Pop always would tell me to remember; when I die no matter how much I have or haven’t accomplished in my life was always born Taylor Jane Ximines. No matter what my environment or situation was I would always be me. The problem wasn’t me moving into a new place, but letting a new place move into me. Everyone feels like they have to transform but in reality if anything we’re find just the way we are. It doesn’t matter if I live in Philadelphia or Georgia, as long as I know who I am everything will be ok. Whether I’m in heaven or back in hell. 

9th Grade English Portfolio is in wiki please Click Here

Macbeth was the first benchmark project I ever did at SLA. It was one of the scariest things I had to do (no I am not exaggerating). I was unsure how to get through it. The project had so much that had to be included in it and the time I had to complete it was not what I was use to. I was one nervous rack! For the Macbeth project we had to choose a character (Macbeth or Lady Macbeth) and show how they changed during the book. I chose to do Macbeth. I felt as though his character showed the most change during the

play.

Macbeth’s Character Analysis - Benchmark

 

 

Thesis statement: Macbeth’s character has drastically changed in the play from a courageous, kind-hearted soldier; to a cold blooded killer.

 

In Act 1 scene 2, Macbeth is on the battlefield killing enemies, and his superiors are proud of him. He is ruthlessly killing soldiers for the honor of his country. Captain tells King Duncan and Malcolm about how Macbeth is doing on the battlefield. He states,” For brave Macbeth – well he deserves that name. (Act 1, scene 2, line 16) It shows that Macbeth is a courageous soldier. Without any question he is on the frontline for his people. Everyone is proud of him and how he is doing.

 

When Act 1 scene 3 is taking place, Macbeth has just been told of a prophecy where eventually he will become the king. Banquo and him were both told a prophecy and some of Macbeth’s has already come true. While he is aside he says that if he is meant to be king then everything will fall in place. In lines 145-146 he says,” If chance will have me king, why chance may crown me.” This shows that Macbeth is aware that he might become king, but is in no rush to make it come true. He has just been crowned Thane of Cawdor so now he is wondering about what will be. Macbeth’s character is showing that he is not going to dwell on the prophecy that much. This also shows that Macbeth is kind-hearted.

 

In Act 1 scene 7 Lady Macbeth has decided that King Duncan needs to be killed so Macbeth can become king, but Macbeth is saying that he’s not sure because Duncan is one of his closest friends and if they do he wants to get it over with. He is alone in a room speaking and he says, “First, as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; then, as his host, who should against his murderer shut the door.”(Lines 13-16) Macbeth is second guessing about killing Duncan because he is suppose to be there to protect him, and that Macbeth really doesn’t want to murder him for the fact that he’s his friend. Macbeth’s conscience is making him think it over. Macbeth is showing that he has a heart. This soon changes though.

 

The ending of Act 2 scene, Macbeth has just killed Duncan. He and is paranoid and is hearing/seeing things because of what he has done. Duncan was suppose to be one of his best friends and he murdered him. And he is upset, while Lady Macbeth is telling him to stop being so nervous and scared. She states,“ My hands are of your color, but I shame to wear a heart so white.”(Lines 67-68). This shows that Macbeth’s character has feelings and his heart is troubled because of what he has done. Because Duncan was his friend and he killed him, now he is feeling the guilt. Lady Macbeth is trying to get him to calm down; this shows that Macbeth’s character is still not in a role where he is in.

 

In the beginning of Act 3 scene 1, Macbeth is now saying that Banquo is standing in his way of getting the position of king. And now he is ready to have him murdered to get him out of the way. Macbeth is starting to become greedy when it comes to him wanting power he says, “ Whose being I do fear; and under him, my genius is rebuked, as it is said, Mark Antony’s was by Caesar. He chid the sisters, when first they put the name of king upon me.” (Lines 55-58) Macbeth is now becoming power greedy. Banquo is supposed to be a very close friend to him, and now he is plotting to murder him. This begins to show what is to soon become of the new Macbeth.

 

In Act 3 scene 2, Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are talking about killing Banquo and Fleance. She feels as though it is unnecessary to murder them. She feels as though it serves no purpose, but he is insisting that they be murdered, and he assures her he will take care of it. He tells her, “Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, And with thy bloody, and invisible hand.” (Lines 46-49) This shows that Macbeth’s character has changed, before now he felt unsure when killing Duncan. Now it seems as though him and Lady Macbeth have emotionally traded places. He is ready to kill Banquo with no question, while she is wondering whether to do it. This is showing how he has changed from the beginning of the book.

 

When Act 4 scene 1 emerges, Macbeth has heard that Macduff has fled to England. And even though there is no real reason to kill anybody besides Macduff, he has decided that anybody who is in his castle will be killed. Macbeth is furious and wants everybody dead. He tells Lennox, “The castle of Macduff I will surprise, Seize upon Fife, give to Th’ edge o’ th’ sword, His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls that trace him in his line.” (Lines 172-175) This shows that Macbeth has turned into a heartless murderer who is just killing people now for the sake of it. It is becoming more evident that now he is just ruthless.

 

In Act 4 scene 3, Macduff and Malcolm are talking to each other about Macbeth. They are about to form an alliance against him, and Macduff is telling Malcolm that they don’t get any worst than Macbeth. They are ready to fight back against him and get Scotland back. Macduff Tells Malcolm,“ Not in the legions, of horrid hell can come a devil more damned, in evil to top Macbeth.” (Lines 56-58) This shows that everyone is aware of who Macbeth has become. That he is not the same. The character has now turned into an evil, cold hearted, greedy murderer. Malcolm and Macduff once thought of him as a noble man, now they are ready to kill him.

 

In Act 5 scene 2, the alliance against Macbeth is formed. Everyone is aware of the crimes he has committed. There is no turning back now, the once courageous soldier, is now a power stealing greedy King, and they are ready to fight back. Angus tells them, “His secret murders sticking on his hands. Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith breach. Those he commands, move only in command, nothing in love. Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe? Upon a dwarfish thief.” (Lines 17-22) Macbeth’s character and title is about to downfall. The fact that he is now wrongly king is coming back to him. His title is about to get taken from him. Because he was so impatient and was power hungry he made a lot of mistakes. Now he is about to pay for them.        

 

At the end of this book in Act 5 scene 8, Macduff and Macbeth are fighting; Macduff informs Macbeth that because he was born by from his mothers womb untimely ripped (C-section) that he is able to kill him. Basically he is telling him to surrender because there is nothing left to loose. It is all over for Macbeth at this point. So Macduff tells him, “ Then yield thee coward, And live to be the show and gaze o’ th’ time. We’ll have thee, as our rarer monster are, painted upon a pole, and under wit.”(Lines 23-26) Macbeth at the end of the book is a coward. He is in a position where he knows he is about to be killed. His title that was wrongfully given to him is about to be ripped away. It is nothing left that he can do. All hope is gone at this point.

 

In conclusion, Macbeth in the beginning of this book was a well-respected, decent man. By the time the book is over he is an evil murderer who everyone wants to be dead. He let the fact that he was told he would be king, be the cause of his downfall. These quotes have shown how Macbeth let his greed for power loose everything he had. Nothing positive came from his decisions. Shakespeare’s message to us was that you should always be happy with where you are, and never try to rush anything. This lesson can still be used today, as long as you apply it to your situation.

I must thank Alex for inspiring me to read A Brave New World.
Though, I have no doubt I am missing its most basic themes and insulting the book, its author (The long dead Aldous Huxley), and perhaps even the publisher by even looking the novel. Nonetheless I shall continue.
It is lovely.
A tad sad, vaguely frightening but lovely.

​It seems as if stories recently have change to a sort of countdown until the end the school year, So I'm going to add to this feat. Two days until no classes, two weeks until graduation.

Today is the last day I will be student teaching green stream drama. At first I was sad that I was leaving but then I remembered all the good times. And I know I'll be visiting a lot so I'll see them hopefully and be able to say hi. 

With next week?

I want a full layout of what we're doing & when I can sleep in late.

lmao.

Working late sucks on school nights.